After staging a protest with a placard, accusing Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar of blocking release of funds to his RR Nagar constituency, former BJP minister Munirathna on Tuesday went to the Palace Grounds where Shivakumar was attending the inaugural ceremony of the Kambala programme and “fell at his feet”.
Reacting to the incident, Shivakumar said, “Am I a Swami for him to fall at my feet? There was no need for him to create a scene,” he said.
Along with his supporters, Munirathna barged into the venue and started demanding that he wanted to meet Shivakumar and seek funds for his constituency, which put the organisers in a tight spot.
BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan intervened and asked Munirathna not to create a scene.
After the programme, Munirathna rushed to meet Shivakumar to present him a memorandum and tried to touch his feet.
A seemingly irked Shivakumar told Munirathna to meet him at his residence.
Munirathna went to the DyCM’s residence, where they held discussions for over an hour.
Earlier, police detained supporters of Munirathna, but he staged a protest for some time.
BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa arrived at the spot and told him to withdraw the protest.
Yediyurappa promised to speak to CM Siddaramaiah on Munirathna’s grouse.
He told reporters that BJP stood with Munirathna and his fight against injustice.
“The Congress is practising vendetta politics by blocking the release of development funds to Opposition MLAs,” he said.
Later, Shivakumar said Munirathna could have simply sought appointment, instead of creating a scene.
Published 11 October 2023, 23:14 IST